University of Chicago Fraternity Assault Allegations Raise Questions About Safety Policies
ByThe University of Chicago is facing renewed questions about fraternity safety rules after two women recently reported sexual assault allegations involving separate fraternity houses near campus.
The cases have also raised concerns about whether a set of safety policies created by fraternity leaders in 2016 is still being followed and whether the university should take a stronger role in overseeing Greek life.
One case involves a 21-year-old woman who reported an alleged assault at a fraternity house on Oct. 11.
The university said a person of interest had been identified, barred from campus, and was not a University of Chicago student. Chicago police are investigating the incident, and no arrests have been announced in the information provided.
The second case involves a 19-year-old woman who filed a lawsuit alleging she was sexually assaulted at an Alpha Delta Phi fraternity party in February.
The woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, claims a fraternity member gave her an alcoholic drink that quickly made her feel unsteady and lightheaded before leading her to a secluded bedroom.
The allegations have renewed attention on a safety plan created by fraternity leaders a decade ago. The 2016 plan called for student identification checks at parties, sober safety monitors, sexual assault prevention training, and rules for suspending or removing members accused of sexual misconduct.
However, it remains unclear whether the policies are still active or how consistently fraternities have followed them. Three former fraternity members who helped create or enforce the rules told NBC News that the system depended too heavily on fraternity members policing themselves.
The university has said fraternities are not formally affiliated with the school, even though many fraternity houses are located near campus. University spokesperson Gerald McSwiggan described the recent allegations as "very disturbing" and said the school is committed to preventing sexual assault.
The cases have prompted renewed debate over how colleges can protect students when social events take place in houses that are not formally recognized as university organizations.
Questions Raised Over Fraternity Safety Enforcement
The original safety plan grew out of sexual assault reports made in 2015. Two women told police they had been sexually assaulted after visiting the Psi Upsilon fraternity house near the university at separate times.
One of the women was Lydia Pazienza, who was 31 when she spoke to NBC News about the incident. She said the assault occurred in June 2015 after she became heavily intoxicated from alcohol provided by a fraternity member. Pazienza said she told the man "no" during the unwanted sexual encounter.
Pazienza reported the incident to the Chicago Police Department and underwent a rape kit examination, she said. No criminal charges were pursued, according to her account.
The university took steps to limit contact between Pazienza and the alleged assailant. She said the school barred him from contacting her, studying abroad and attending the same graduation ceremony. Screenshots of emails between Pazienza and the university were also provided to NBC News.
Looking back on the case and the latest reports, Pazienza said she saw little lasting change.
"This feels like déjà vu to me: It's 2015, we lead into #MeToo, all these women are sharing their stories," she said. "On the surface some things changed, but nothing really changed."
In 2016, the presidents of 10 University of Chicago fraternity chapters worked together to create rules meant to reduce the risk of sexual misconduct at fraternity parties. An archived copy of the document describes steps that members were expected to follow at events.
Party guests were required to show University of Chicago student identification. Beverages were to be served in front of guests, and each floor at a party was supposed to have a sealed, clearly labeled water cooler. At least three fraternity members were also expected to serve as safety monitors at every event.
The monitors generally had to remain sober. Some wore brightly colored vests so partygoers could identify them and ask for help.
One former fraternity member, who served as his chapter's sexual assault awareness chair in 2017 and 2018, described how monitors watched house exits. Their role included stopping people who were leaving together to check whether they knew each other and appeared able to make decisions about consent.
He said these steps were not common at other social gatherings he attended.
"Those were generally things that I don't think happen on a day-to-day basis like at an apartment party or other kind of events or if I was going downtown," he said. "That wasn't happening anywhere besides the fraternities."
The plan also called for fraternity leaders to meet with staff from the university's Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention center or Title IX office every fall quarter. Fraternities were expected to sponsor sexual misconduct seminars and arrange required prevention training for new members through outside groups.
The rules included responses to alleged misconduct. If members learned that a sexual assault was happening at a party, the event was supposed to end immediately.
A fraternity member formally accused of sexual misconduct was to be suspended from events while a university or police investigation took place. Members found responsible for sexual assault were to be expelled from their fraternities.
The document offered a shared set of expectations, but former fraternity leaders now question whether those rules had enough support to remain effective over time.
Oversight and Recent Sexual Assault Allegations
A central issue is the relationship between the University of Chicago and its fraternities. The school says the groups are not formally affiliated with the university. However, former fraternity leaders said this arrangement made it difficult to enforce common safety standards across different houses.
Clyde Christian Anderson, a former president of the university's Phi Gamma Delta chapter, helped explain the problem. He said fraternity leaders had few clear ways to get support when they needed help carrying out the rules.
"It made it more difficult to ensure the safety of people because we did not have a supportive backbone or something that was gluing together either multiple generations of different fraternity leaders," Anderson said. "When I needed help, I did not know who to go to."
More than 30 Greek life organizations operate at the University of Chicago, according to the student newspaper The Chicago Maroon. Former fraternity presidents said fraternity houses play a major role in campus social life because university sororities do not have their own houses.
The former president of the university's Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter, who asked not to be named because of concerns about possible employment consequences, said students had reasons to feel unsafe at fraternity parties.
"It was very clearly a problem on campus, and I mean, rightfully so," he said. "People didn't feel safe going to fraternity parties, justifiably so, including ours."
The former leaders said they were unsure whether the 2016 plan was still being used. The website that once hosted the document is no longer active, and the university did not respond to several requests for comment about the policy's current status.
The national organization for Alpha Epsilon Pi said it was not aware of the 2016 document. Representatives for Alpha Delta Phi's national organization and Alpha Epsilon Pi's local chapter did not respond to requests for comment. Alpha Delta Phi's local chapter declined to comment.
The latest allegations have added to those concerns.
In the incident reported at an Alpha Epsilon Pi house earlier this month, witnesses told police they saw several men outside a bathroom, appea